Concerned about Paddy’s future welfare, Lorna and Paddy took their son to see a psychologist.

They are now in touch with the Tavistock and Portman Clinic, which helps children with gender identity issues.

Some 308 youngsters were referred to the clinic with gender identity issues in the past year.

Lorna says: “In the bottom of my heart I hope one day Paddy will change his mind one day because I know his life would be so much easier.

“But the evidence I’m seeing suggests otherwise.

"He loves it when people mistake him for a girl and he’s asked me if doctors can give him a womb so he can be a mummy.”

Now 18 months into his school education, Paddy is becoming more determined about how he feels, and has become more frustrated that he has to wear trousers to school.

“At first Paddy was happy to go to school and ‘pretend’ to be a boy,” says Lorna.

“But now he’s adamant he wants to wear a skirt to school.

"When I tell him other children will laugh at him he says ‘I don’t care. I’ll just walk away and ignore them’.

"He’s started not wanting to go to school. I think it’s because he’s unhappy with having to play the part of being something he’s not.

"He wants to be running around in a dress.”

Lorna is now worried that Paddy will be bullied at school.

She says: “Paddy told me a little boy asked him if he wanted to be a girl and the other children laughed.

Nicholas Bowman / Daily Mirror

Happy: Paddy

"He asked me and his dad ‘why didn’t you just send me to school as a girl in the first place and then I wouldn’t have this problem?’”

When Paddy is not at school, he dresses as a girl all the time now.

Lorna says: “He was out walking with his dad and they bumped into the mum of a little boy at his school.

She was shocked to see Paddy in a dress but she explained that she had lots of brothers and when she was a little girl she liked to dress as a boy. Paddy said ‘why would you want to dress as a boy? Boys are rubbish.’

“Paddy wasn’t at all embarrassed she’d seen him in a dress because that’s how he feels most comfortable.”

Lorna and Paddy are determined to make sure their child gets the right professional help for his gender identity issues.

Lorna says: “If it is a phase Paddy is going through then we will be there to help him through it.

"But we feel it’s more than that and we want to do what we can for him now.

"When he’s a teenager, he will have the option of taking hormones to halt the onset of puberty – and if he does decide he wants to live his life as a woman, then we’ll support him no matter what.

"He is our child regardless and shouldn’t feel ashamed. We want him to know he is loved whether he is a boy or a girl.”

Dad Paddy says: “I’ll always support him 100%. You do what you can to make your children the happiest they can be.

“It’s not about forcing my dreams on him. He’s happy. That’s the most important thing.”